Your vagina is not a Jenga tower. So what did Jennifer Garner mean when she mentioned the possibility of vaginal collapse? during an interview with Danielle Pergament for To tempt? Specifically, the 51-year-old Garner had said, “I just learned that our vaginas can collapse. I saw my OB this week and she gave me a pamphlet on vaginal collapse. That “gathered” quite a few comments from the TV actress. series played Alias and movies like 13 on the way to 30.
By using the word “our,” Garner was presumably just referring to the possibility of someone’s vagina collapsing in general and not hers specifically. There was no indication that her obstetrician-doctor had seen anything unusual and told Garner, “Your vagina is about to collapse in T-minus, 10, 9.8…” As Pergament wrote, Garner recounted: “I’m like, ‘When? Is it forthcoming? Should I put it in my calendar? What is happening?!’ Have you ever heard of it?”
Yes, vaginal collapse is real. While not everyone’s vagina will eventually collapse and you usually can’t schedule it like “Vagina collapses Wednesday at 2:30pm”, it does happen to about a third of women at some point in their lives, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Before you imagine your vagina falling to the floor in many pieces, vaginal collapse is not like that. Instead, a vaginal collapse is another way of saying vaginal prolapse or vaginal prolapse. This is when the top of your vagina becomes weak and drops down into your vaginal canal. If this collapse goes far enough, the top of the vagina may even protrude through the vaginal opening. This may seem unsettling at first because you’re probably not used to seeing your vagina outside your body.
Last month I wrote for Forbes about a TikToker noticing uterine prolapse after farting. This means uterine prolapse and not the fart – has some similarities to vaginal prolapse but is not exactly the same. Both types of prolapse are similar in that part of the body bulges out. But the difference between vaginal vs. uterine prolapse is in which part of your body is out of place. With uterine prolapse, it is parts of your uterus that are above your vagina. With vaginal prolapse, it is specifically the walls of your vagina that are doing the prolapse. Uterine and vaginal prolapse can occur simultaneously.
In many cases, vaginal prolapse will not be so obvious. Instead, you may feel some sort of pressure, fullness, a feeling of something stuck, or throbbing pain in your vagina. Of course, when evaluating such symptoms, you need to rule out other more obvious explanations, such as something else clearly lodged in your vagina. Another possible symptom is the feeling that something is falling out of your vagina, when nothing else is actually falling out of your vagina. Oh, and since vaginal prolapse means there’s actually something partially blocking your vaginal canal, namely your vagina, vaginal prolapse can lead to pain or discomfort during intercourse or trouble using tampons.
Keep in mind that your vagina isn’t just floating somewhere in space. If somehow this is the case, try to catch your vagina immediately and call your doctor. Usually, your vagina lives in a fairly complex neighborhood, connected to other organs in your pelvis. Therefore, when your vagina changes shape and configuration into a vaginal prolapse, your vagina will in turn pull or collide with other organs in your pelvis and abdomen, such as your bowels and bladder. This can result in various non-vaginal symptoms, such as changes in your bowel movements or urination. Other body parts can also prolapse, such as the connective tissue between your vagina and rectum or between your vagina and bladder.
Now there is no pill you can take to prevent vaginal prolapse. It’s not entirely clear why the tops of some vaginas collapse in this way and others don’t. There is an association with the number of vaginal births you have had and reaching menopause. But that doesn’t mean you should avoid it too. Associations and correlations do not imply cause and effect.
While combining the word “collapse” with any body part may sound alarming, don’t curl up in a ball and mumble, “My vagina may collapse, my vagina may collapse.” Even if your vagina prolapses, in many cases no specific medical treatment is needed. Mild prolapse may require some pelvic floor strengthening exercises. Moderate prolapse may warrant the insertion of a vaginal pessary in some cases to strengthen the walls of your vagina. Surgery, such as a procedure called colposuspension, may only be warranted in severe cases of vaginal prolapse. In all cases, it is best to consult your doctor – a real doctor.
So the bottom line – or close to it – is that yes, vaginas can collapse, like in prolapse. It won’t necessarily happen to everyone. But it happens often enough that you are aware that it can happen. There are several ways to treat vaginal prolapse and in many cases no specific medical treatment or procedure is needed. So there is no need to panic or worry.